Bach, J S: Bist du bei mir, BWV508

Multi-award winning opera singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, praised for the ‘pristine beauty of her lyric soprano’ (The Guardian), was revered in opera houses worldwide and is perhaps most famous for her Mozart roles. However, she was also at home on the concert stage and this collection combines her acclaimed portrayals of Donna Elvira, Countess Almaviva and Richard Strauss’s Marschallin, among others, with her affecting interpretations of lieder and song-cycles.

After attracting attention at the French "Victoires de la Musique Classique" Awards in 2012, the contralto and conductor Nathalie Stutzmann is back with her Orfeo 55 ensemble.

For her new album, Nathalie Stutzmann has imagined an "ideal" cantata based on the most beautiful music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach: her imaginary cantata includes vocal arias of course, but also instrumental pieces and even chorales.

From Bach's immense, magnificent repertoire, Nathalie Stutzmann wanted to "pick a bouquet of its most beautiful flowers."

Arias of gallantry or tenderness, anger, love, fear or despair... every register of expression comes together in Nathalie Stutzmann's "Cantate imaginaire", giving birth to an entirely work with an album constructed in a single, continuous breath.

DVD & bonus CD

Marking the centenary of Kathleen Ferrier's birth, Diane Perelsztejn's specially-extended feature-length film traces the remarkable life - and tragically brief career - of one of the greatest singers of all time. Drawing on recently-discovered material, and supported by a companion CD featuring unreleased live recordings from new York, the film is both a stirring portrait of an extraordinary woman and a tribute to a glorious voice that enthralled the world.

As a tribute to the artistry of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, this retrospective gathers together many of the finest recordings of arias and duets made during her acclaimed association with harmonia mundi. The booklet notes include tributes from her husband, Peter Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan and her obituary from Le Monde.

Lorraine Hunt - who became Lorraine Hunt Lieberson after her marriage to the American composer Peter Lieberson in 1999 - was born on March 1st 1954, in San Francisco. Her father was a music teacher and a conductor, her mother a contralto and a voice teacher. She played viola professionally until she was 26, when she found that her voice could be a better and richer way to express her musicality and secure her professional future. Lorraine would have a professional singing career of only 2 decades (1984-2006), interrupted twice by illness. She died from cancer on July 3, 2006, aged 52.

For harmonia mundi, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson recorded operas, oratorios and Handel arias, conducted notably by Nicholas McGegan. For Erato, she added the rôles of Rameau’s Phèdre and Charpentier’s Medea, under William Christie. Since her death, other taped live performances have been added to her discography, including two Wigmore Hall Live recitals and Peter Lieberson’s Rilke and Neruda Songs.

In 2009 harmonia mundi issued a recital given at the Ravinia Festival in August 2004 with pianist Peter Serkin. More recently, new label Philharmonia Baroque has issued Lorraine’s live performances of Les Nuits d’Eté and Handel Arias.

A formidable musician, a natural-born actress, she was at her best in roles of sacrificed victims, which didn’t prevent her from displaying a dark sense of humour. After having sung during the same evening Stravinsky’s Jocasta and Britten’s Phaedra, she once said: ‘Two suicides in one night! That’s right up my alley’.

“For those who loved Lorraine and her singing, and for those who have not yet heard her, my gratitude to harmonia mundi.” PETER LIEBERSON (b.1946, d.2011)

The fourth volume in “The Flagstad Recitals” comprises two LPs Kirsten Flagstad made with the London Philharmonic and Sir Adrian Boult in December 1956 (Bach and Handel: CD2) and April 1957 (Sacred Songs: CD1) at London’s Kingsway Hall. The Penguin Guide to bargain Compact Discs praised the ‘sacred pops’ CD for the ‘vivid projection’ of Flagstad’s voice and singled out the ‘great majesty and weight’ of her voice. As with the sacred songs, the Bach and Handel items have a devotional aura of their own and this anthology is also unique for the first stereo publication of Bach’s aria ‘Sheep may safely graze’ and the first-ever publication of ‘Art thou troubled’ from Handel’s Rodelinda.

Some of the songs featured on ‘Great Sacred Songs’ made their way onto a 45rpm EP which was entitled “Songs for Sunday” – from which derives the title of this compilation. Flagstad’s own religious beliefs remain unexpressed in The Flagstad Manuscript – there are no pronouncements about morality per se or about the immortality of the soul. How she lived her life speaks for itself, however, and so do the performances on this CD: songs not just for Sunday for but every day.